The Second Generation
by flashgemini
Summary: Squall has a son, Johnathan and the boy is trouble. Things go wrong and force the boy to leave the Garden, only to find that someone is trying to ressurect Ultimicia from her time compression. rating for violence and cursing.
1. Family Issues

*I don't own Final Fantasy, Squall, Rinoa and all those others are not my characters, but their kids are.*  
  
Johnathan was in trouble again, every day it seemed like he was turning into Seifer Almasy, it worried his father, terrified is mother to the point of tears at times. He wasn't evil really, just lost most of the time. None the less, he was in trouble again. Squall was making his way to the Garden training center when he was told. He had turned on heel and gone to the Headmaster's office immediately. What greeted him was nothing short of hilarious.  
  
His son, Johnathan Leonhart was tied to the chair in the office, two of the guards standing on either side of him, his gunblade in one of the two's hands. The Headmaster was standing behind his desk, trying to hide his laughter, Johnathan was blushing, turning as red as the uniforms of the guards beside him. Squall coughed uncomfortably, watching Johnathan as he cocked his head back and looked at his father, his vision contorted from looking at the man upside-down.  
  
Crossing the room, Squall looked at his son, bonded to the chair and raised an eyebrow at the guards, as well as the Headmaster.  
  
"Is that necessary Sir?"  
  
The Headmaster shook his head, taking a seat and motioning for the guards to untie Johnathan and leave the room. They did as they were told and as they left, he cleared his throat, speaking clearly and concisely.  
  
"Squall, you have been very lenient on your son's behalf, I believe it is time to take more strenuous measures to guarantee that this sort of incident does not occur in the future."  
  
Squall glanced at his son, the fire in his eyes appearing for the first time in a long while. Johnathan stared at the floor as his father began to speak.  
  
"What has he done this time that could not be settled the way I have been doing it?"  
  
"He struck a student, with his gunblade, knocking the boy unconscious, there is a small wound on his eyebrow, and he will be scarred permanently."  
  
For a moment, Squall growled, his whole body quivering in anger, though when he spoke next, his voice was calm and collected. The anger was still ever present behind his words, but he knew better than to yell at the Headmaster.  
  
"What student? Randall Almasy?"  
  
It was Johnathan that replied, brushing his bangs from his eyes and looking at his father and the Headmaster.  
  
"No. Zachery Dintch, the chicken-wuss himself, I didn't mean to hit him, I merely raised the blade to his face to get a point across, he moved got himself cut and proceeded to faint. There are ten year olds that have more strength than he does."  
  
"You may be right in saying that he is a fool, however, that does not give you the right to strike him. You will be punished for this."  
  
"Wonderful, what do I get this time, training SeeD hopefuls? Cleaning out the toilets? Or my personal favorite, suspension, come on Cid, you know you can't make me sit still and watch something and not interfere, for better or for worse."  
  
By this time, Squall had had enough of his son's attitude and grabbed his arm forcefully.  
  
"Headmaster, forgive him and I. I will deal with this the way I should have done when he first stepped out of line."  
  
With that, Squall drug his son from the room and down the elevator, heading towards their apartment. Rinoa, Squall's wife and Johnathan's mother was out for the day with some of the girls so it was the perfect time to have one of those father-son talks. Neither sat, Johnathan wrenched his arm from his father's hand and glared at him. The boy and his father were nearly identical thanks to Johnathan's encounter with the 'law enforcer' Seifer Almasy. To coax the boy back to the Garden, Seifer had engaged him in battle and struck him with his Hyperion Gunblade, leaving a scar identical to his father's.  
  
Squall confronted his son, when he sat, he pulled Johnathan back up to his feet, glaring the whole time.  
  
"You are a disrespecting little shit, you know that? How dare you refer to the Headmaster as 'Cid'! Do you want to be expelled, it can be arranged you know."  
  
"Cid is his name, the Headmaster is merely a title he was given or had given himself to make people fear him. Let me tell you something, I don't fear the old man. He's just that, an old man. I whacked Zach over the head and all you care about is me disrespecting the Headmaster. God, you wonder why I act the way I do."  
  
"Why do you? Do you want to turn out like Seifer? Called names, a loner and referred to as a monster, a creature not even worthy for the deepest pit of hell?"  
  
"He isn't called any of those things now. I've been around him, people fear him because of who he is, what he did, but they don't hate him any more than they did originally. If I remember the story right, you are the one that got him this job as law enforcer in the first place. What do I have to do with Seifer anyway? He isn't the one that attacked Zach, it was me!"  
  
"Then what was it, an attempt for attention, because if attention is what you want boy, I'll give it to you."  
  
Squall was fuming and from the way he was taking off that leather belt of his, Johnathan had a pretty good idea what kind of attention his father was referring to.  
  
"Am I so bad that you have to resort to child's punishment? That old belt of yours is not the kind of attention I wanted, if that's even why I did it. Ever think maybe I did it because we were training and it got out of hand? You never once thought about it that way did you? Did you?"  
  
Training was all it had started out as; Zach wanted to prepare for the SeeD field exam in a month, Johnathan just wanted an excuse to skip his class and fight. He and Zach weren't even partners, but both wanted to get out of doing World History, and so they did. The battle went well for a while, but then things turned ugly. Zach used magic; you aren't supposed to use magic when training, because it puts both you and your partner in danger. The 'ice storm' that he used knocked John down and pissed him off. He raised his gunblade and brought it crashing down onto Zach's head. He managed to stop himself before really hurting the other boy, but as he watched, Zach cried and passed out. It's true, he had hit him, but with some effort he had carried him to the Infirmary and left him there with the resident doctor.  
  
Facing his father like this, there was nothing he could do, whatever punishment he received from Squall he knew he had to take it, because of his father's hero complex, because he was supposed to turn out the same way. Rather than use the belt, Squall broke into screaming at his son. After some time of this, it sunk in that John wasn't even listening to him, he was just standing there. It was then that he did something he regretted almost immediately. He struck his son, backhanded him with his right hand, the hand with the wedding ring on it. The ring tore a gash into his son's face and the force propelled him to the ground. He let out a small cry out of pain and shock, Squall stood there over him, breathing hard and looking sick.  
  
As he stood again, there was only one thing going through the boy's mind. Run, run away and this time, don't come back. He did as his mind was telling him; his heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst from his chest. He ran from the Garden, from his parents and from everything he had known since birth. Within a few hours, Johnathan was in new territory, Timber. There was no way he was going back now; he had crossed the 'a wall' mark the moment he snuck aboard the train from Balamb. 


	2. Discoveries

I had been to Timber before, or rather, I suppose, through it. My mother, Rinoa Heartilly, was a diplomat's daughter, she had obligations. As a young child I had gone with her to Deling City, on route we passed through Timber. I didn't see much and seeing as I didn't consider myself to be far enough away from Balamb Garden yet, I didn't stay here all that long this time either. There was enough money in my pocket for one ticket one way. I was going to Deling if it killed me. I knew how likely it was that it would too. If my father didn't come after me, Seifer and his group would.  
  
Deling City is huge, and I mean huge. The presidential manor is the largest thing there, except maybe the Heartilly manor, which was another place I needed to stay out of. My grandfather would ship me out in a blink of an eye and send guards to watch me in case I made a move to escape. Where I ended up was in a hotel. A fancy one with this bar in the basement, it wasn't really a bar, more like a club for the rich. There was a piano on a stage, though there was no one singing. A few soldiers were sitting around, playing cards, or talking shit about what they were wanting to do. I didn't care; this looked safer than anywhere else in the city, except maybe that secret room above the sewers.  
  
My stay in Deling was a long one, when Seifer did show up; he was alone and was called back within a few days. It was some time after that the some disturbing news of the Garden reached my ears. I wasn't looking for information; actually I overheard it when I was trying to steal some easy money from the guards that were around. I overheard part of their conversation and it made a chill run down my spine.  
  
Guard 1: "Yea, that damned Garden, eh.Balamb I think it's called, is going down. Galbadia will rise again."  
  
Guard 2: "Surely you're kidding me? I mean sure, the army is back up, we all got jobs again, but can we take down a Garden?"  
  
Guard 1: "Already did, it's falling as we speak, my bro is fighting it, and it ain't the Garden that's being attacked it's those damned SeeD brats. They're taken some test now, field test or somethin'"  
  
Guard 3: "Where was that test at anyway? Wasn't it close?"  
  
Guard 1: "Timber. See, the great minds of our army set up this trap so that the SeeDs would have to come and we could kill them all at once, and then go to the Garden. I heard that there's a man right here in Deling trying to bring back the Sorceress, you know, the one in the weird world? Those kids didn't kill her, she managed to seal her magic in a book, you perform the ceremony and she can get free. I can't wait."  
  
I was done with it after that, I carefully climbed from my place under the guard's stools and ran like hell to get back to Timber. Let me tell you, that is one hell of a walk from Deling to Timber, and too many monsters in the dark. By the time I got to Timber I was met with a horrendous sight. Everyone, everyone taking the SeeD exam that year, all my friends were either dead or injured. I thought everybody were goners until I saw that a few had huddled themselves into a building and were hiding with some of the old revolutionaries from my father's time. To my great relief, I found Randall, Zach, and Amanda hiding out. Irvine was there with them, so I wasn't so worried. When I asked what happened, Amanda collapsed into tears in Randall's lap and answered in a choked cry:  
  
"-sob- ambush.they were Gal-Gal-badia soldiers. They -sniff- used magic that was too..too strong for us. We killed some but.."  
  
And that was all I could get out of her, one of the other girls that was there as well helped her onto the floor and got her to go to sleep. Zach faced me and sighed.  
  
"I thought you were dead.what a time to learn the truth."  
  
Irvine looked up from his daughter and walked over to me. He hit me in the jaw, his fist connecting with a crack and me sinking to the floor. After his little outburst he shook his head and stared down at me.  
  
"You cause a lot of trouble boy, but if you want to redeem yourself, I suggest that you go back to Balamb and tell them about this little incident. Most of these kids are in no position to move, or be moved."  
  
As much as I hated to do it, he was right. My friends needed help and I was the only one that could do it right now. I agreed and left right then, taking my blade with me. I got across the ocean the same way I had done the first time, but sneaking on and hiding in a room. Again there was talk between the Galbadian men, this time they were soldiers.  
  
Soldier 1: "That was more deadly than the sorcerer predicted, those kids killed too many of us."  
  
Soldier 2: "Yea, but what about the kind of pride we can have when this works? When Balamb and its SeeDs are destroyed, the Sorcerer can call her back and the world will be ours for the taking."  
  
This was disturbing enough, but what came over the monitors made me cringe and nearly cry.  
  
"BALAMB GARDEN HAS FALLEN TO THE GALBADIAN ARMY, REPEAT THE GARDEN HAS FALLEN. CLAIM YOUR COMMRADES IN TOWN." 


	3. A Hero or A Zero?

Getting into Balamb was harder than I thought it would be, soldiers and monsters were absolutely everywhere and the people were hidden almost as well as the monsters were. I had some help though, and I thank God for it. Kris, Raijin's daughter, had missed the boat and waited for it to come back so she could go back to the Garden. She was hiding when the city and the Garden was attacked, as I was making my way out she grabbed me and pulled on my coat.  
  
"Kris! Dammit, I could have killed you, you know that? What are you doing here?"  
  
"What the hell does it look like I'm doing you moron? The city and the Garden were attacked, and those weird guard guys are acting weird, they came into the city and spoke to the soldiers, said something about they would clean up the remaining SeeD members and then Galbadia could have the Garden!"  
  
"I really hope you aren't making this up, but either way, I have to get the Garden. Everything was a trap. I can't tell you here, I have to find the Headmaster."  
  
"Everybody back there thinks you're dead, so did I."  
  
"This is a good job for a dead man."  
  
"I hate you. Don't you even care that there might be a few people that actually cared about you, and were worried about you when you left?"  
  
"You know I do."  
  
"Then show it!"  
  
In that situation, in the time frame that was getting shorter and shorter, I did the one thing that I thought seemed appropriate. Grabbing her at the neck and pulling her into my lap, I kissed her quickly though it was meant to be sensual and promptly released her and ran like hell for the Garden main door. Destruction and bodies were everywhere, SeeDs were dead at every turn and those that weren't were so far beyond help that they were begging for mercy, or a shot in the head. All around me, the people that jeered and mocked and swore at me and some of the other trouble makers were laying there dying. It was disgusting.  
  
Slowly, and I mean slowly I made my way through the Garden, looking for the Headmaster. I got to his office only to find a major from the Galbadian army staring at me.  
  
Major: "A SeeD is still alive? No.you can't be a SeeD, you're a child."  
  
I killed him, quickly, only had to pull the trigger once on the gunblade and he was dead. Some people are more hot gas than anything. I hate that kind of person; they remind me of my father. And that's when it hit me. My father and mother were in the Garden at the time of the attack, they had to be somewhere, maybe with the Headmaster.  
  
And the search continued, ending in the most ironic place. It was in the Infirmary that I found two different blades to the neck, one from Seifer, one from my own father. They retracted them and stared at me for a moment, my father slid to the ground and blacked out, Seifer just stared at me before grabbing a handful of my hair.  
  
"How did you get in here boy? There's not a scratch on you. And where is my son?"  
  
"Let me go, or you aren't getting anything out of me."  
  
He did as I asked, growling lightly and backing away to the corner. There I saw my mother on a make-shift cot, a bandage over her abdomen where someone had shot her. On another was Quistis Trepe, one of the better instructors, and the only one that I couldn't cross. As I watched her, Seifer prodded the back of my head with his index finger.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I snuck in here, killed the major in the Headmaster's office, and your son is hiding in Timber. Now it's my turn. Where is the Headmaster and what the hell happened to the Garden?"  
  
He never got the chance to answer me, I got the answer of course, not from Seifer, it actually came the doctor and the Headmaster that were in the corner of the room.  
  
"The Garden was attacked by the Galbadian army, though I suppose you already knew that, didn't you, Johnathan? What prompted the return?"  
  
"I heard about the attack while I was in Deling, Sir, my friends and my family, I was worried about them..Timber was also attacked."  
  
I proceeded to tell him what I had heard from the guards in Deling and what I saw in the streets of Timber, as well as the train ride back to Balamb and finding Kris. I left out the little love moment there, just because I didn't see the prevalence to what was going on now. The headmaster listened to my every word and nodded solemnly when I finished.  
  
"So, they are trying to bring her back are they? Then Rinoa and my wife will be in grave danger. Well now, it seems we are in need for another adventure. Squall is in no condition for this and you my boy are not in a position to do anything, seeing as you are not a SeeD, I cannot hand this over to you."  
  
I was furious and made sure that he knew it.  
  
"Headmaster, you can not expect me to simply sit here while my family and friends are killed one by one, the SeeDs are dead, all of them. Half of the new ones are dead as well, I know of only a handful that survived. If you want this woman or whatever she is dead, then so be it!"  
  
I left. What more could I do in that position? I made what battles I did face short and abrupt, a sword through the man or the monster and got out of the Garden as fast as I could. It was nightfall when I got back to Kris; she was hiding with Zell's family and Zell too. I told her what I had in mind and she jumped at the chance to help. Since I didn't want to endanger her, I told her she would go as far as Timber and then had to get the injured SeeDs out of there.  
  
Reluctantly she agreed and we decided that the morning would be the best time to leave, though to get aboard the train, we were going to need a distraction. Though he was injured, Zell agreed to take part in that. He thought we were both insane and voiced his opinion, but with two teenagers calling you a 'chicken-wuss' it didn't take long for him to say yes. We were set for action and it would all begin at dawn the next morning. 


	4. Actions and Decisions

That night was useless to me as a whole. With what was left of it, I watched the others sleep and watched as the flames from some of the burning houses lit up the sky. This was going to be hard, and if we got caught it was over. I was sitting there in the window sill of the Dintch house, staring out the window, trying to remember what my mother had said about Ultimicia. She was a witch, and that was all I could remember. She had tried to escape something called Time Compression almost 20 years ago, but my father stopped her, risking my mother's life at the same time. This Ultimicia or Adel I think she was called has a bond with my mother, and she has been getting worse and worse lately. I wonder if she knew.  
  
I lay down after a time, determined to get some sleep, though what rest I did was tormented with dreams and nightmares of things that I has no way of knowing. I was restless, but the sleep I received was enough to hold me till Timber at least.  
  
Kris was up in another hour, changing from a skirt to a pair of pants and dressing like a man. When I asked why she bopped me on the head and said it was so if we were caught the soldiers wouldn't take advantage of her. Zell laughed and went right along with his business of trying to find a way to distract the soldiers long enough to get the two of us hidden well. Getting back off the train would be our job, but we would have plenty of time to figure it out on the way there. When we were ready I signaled him with a flick of my wrist and he walked out to the middle of the crowd of soldiers and started yelling at them like only Zell can. As they were distracted by his antics, Kris and I snuck through the town the railway station. Surprisingly, there was no one there, the train was, but no one else. As Kris and I got on it was like stepping into a storybook. Guards were tied up and being held hostage by a group of teens and two adults. We looked at them, raised our weapons to attack, but one of them recognized me and stopped.  
  
"It's you, the kid from Deling with the gunblade, the one that nearly killed me when you ran out of the hotel, you live here?"  
  
"Who the hell are you?"  
  
"My dad was one of the revolutionaries from your father's time, he was with lady Rinoa. When I heard what happened, my friends and I got together and decided to put an end to it..where are you going?"  
  
"Timber and then Deling."  
  
This last bit was from Kris, she would have said more, but one of the guards had gotten free and attacked her. With six people at his throat in an instant, he let her go pretty quick. I asked the Timber Owls (resurrecting an old name for a new cause) to take us to Timber and help Kris get the remaining SeeDs out of the city, I could deal with the rest myself. They agreed and we had a small army on our side now.  
  
Timber was trashed, the dead had just been left where they had fallen, the soldiers and monsters were still patrolling the streets. It took some effort to get to the little house where they were all hiding without being noticed; we managed but probably hadn't if Irvine hadn't grabbed us both after we were thoroughly lost. He and the others had moved into the old radio tower because it was easier to hide there. We were battered and bruised, but ok overall.  
  
The Timber Owls told the injured what they intended to do and since the train was under their command, there was no real problem that would keep them from being caught. Irvine was still there, he was determined to go with me until I told him that he has to go with his daughter, I didn't see Selphie in the infirmary and he should go find his wife. To that he agreed. Zach nearly killed me when we told what a spectacle Zell had put on to get us out of there, until I threatened to really scar him and that shut him up pretty quick.  
  
Randall was giving me the cold shoulder, not that I really blamed him, but after the first few hours it was annoying.  
  
"What is wrong with you, Randall?"  
  
"What's wrong? What's wrong?! The Garden was attacked, nearly everyone is dead, the SeeDs are gone and you dare to ask me what's wrong? God I hate you. You're so damned thick sometimes."  
  
"And you aren't? You think that just because your father is Seifer Almasy, the jerk off of Balamb Garden and now the Law of the Garden, you can do whatever you please with no account to anyone else."  
  
"And Squall is any better? He's an asshole, and treats everyone like scum, even his wife! I can't believe that you and I were friends once, what was wrong with me?"  
  
I didn't want to fight with him right then and dropped into a crouched position, staring at the ground.  
  
"Randall, we can't fight like this now, I need you to come with me. We are not our parents; we have to do this before..."  
  
He had his back to me, I heard him but it sounded like he was so far away and hiding from something. He turned and tapped the dull edge of his gunblade on my back, making my body go rigid. I straightened up and looked at him, he smirked and shook his head.  
  
"You are stubborn and determined, but your right. We can't fight like this now, we can kill one another in the end if you like, but at the moment we have an old sorceress to fry and her little scum bucket that is ordering our deaths."  
  
So I had help now, we don't like one another, but it didn't really matter at the moment, if even one of us could find that man and kill him and destroy whatever way it was that She was coming back then it was over.  
  
Randall and I watched solemnly as Kris and the Timber Owls took the injured, Irvine with Amanda in his arms, back to the train, back to whatever was left of our home. I had never wanted to cry so much as right then, but I didn't, this was no time for that. He and I left Timber then and walked slowly along the road to Deling City. It took three days to walk there; it was a long way on foot.  
  
When we got there, the city was lit up like a Christmas tree for some parade celebrating the death of the Sorceress and her knight. Of course, neither had died, but that's what the people were told. He and I looked at one another and sighed, pushing our way to the Hotel and getting a room. We wouldn't be staying in it, but it helped to cover some tracks if we needed a place to sleep and likely we would eventually. I was not looking forward to this next part of the ordeal, there was always something at could go wrong and most likely would. We were only two guys, I wasn't so sure that we could do this, but knew that we had to try. 


	5. No Rest for the Weary Traveler

The parade of that night was spectacular as Randall and I watched it from the second floor window of our hotel. I had never seen it before, not that parade and truthfully, none other such as that. As it was wrapping up, Randall turned to me while my head was down, staring at the ground. I wished that Kris was here with me, I knew that this was no place for a girl, not even one like her. He tapped me on the shoulder, when I didn't reply or even look up at him; he took his gunblade and tapped it on my head, the dull part, of course.  
  
"Ahh! What the hell?"  
  
"You're thinking about a girl, you looked so lost there for a moment."  
  
"Wow, Randy Almasy actually cares, I'm shocked."  
  
He nearly knocked me senseless with that damned blade of his.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Randy? Perhaps I should start calling you Leon?"  
  
I hate it when people call me Leon, hate it. I growled at him and pounced, attacking him and forcing him to the ground. We spent the next two hours attacking one another and swinging punches. He started playing rough towards the end of it, instead of a punch to the chest or stomach, he was tickling me and I was having a fit. He was straddling me when something dawned on me and I pushed him off.  
  
"Off-off, get off."  
  
"Fine, fine. What's the matter, you liked that when we were younger."  
  
"For one thing, you and I are not seven anymore, and your gun or something was digging into my hip. Anyway, I just thought of something. The Sorceress was hiding in the Presidential Residence the first time when your father joined her. That building is still here, so don't you think the Sorcerer might be there?"  
  
"If they are stupid enough to repeat history, then maybe, are you talking infiltration?"  
  
I didn't answer him, but the truth was behind my eyes. If breaking into a building and looking around was what we had to do, well then it was what we would do. I heard him laughing behind me and turned to him, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"You want to wreak some havoc, don't you?"  
  
"I want to know what's so important to a man that he has to destroy the homes of so many people and kill everyone."  
  
"Now now, you can kill him later, but we have to get there first. What do you have in mind Mr. Leader?"  
  
"Irvine told me about a way in that's on the side of the building, there's a ladder up there. So we can get on the roof and walk across, get in the overlook and go down from there."  
  
"You've planned this out, haven't you?"  
  
"I haven't had anything else to do for the past three nights."  
  
We went silent; I heard him bustling around with something and then figured out that he was climbing into one of the two beds in the room. He was mumbling about the pillows being uncomfortable and then tossed one at me.  
  
"Can I have a pillow?"  
  
"Take it, I probably won't be sleeping all that much tonight."  
  
"If we're sneaking in tomorrow, you need to rest kid. I won't have you falling asleep on me in the middle of sneaking into some place."  
  
"We are not going in there in the morning, if we sneak into anywhere I want to make sure no one can walk through the room and catch us. Besides, how many ceremonies do you know of are done during the day?"  
  
When he didn't answer, I turned around and looked and he was crashed. He actually looked like a nice guy when he was asleep, though this thought made me turn to the bathroom and get in the shower immediately. When I start thinking that Seifer's son is nice to look at, it's definitely time to get cleaned up and get to bed myself and I did just that.  
  
The next day, during the day, we wandered through the streets, avoiding the trash on the ground. We talked to the people about seeing anyone strange around, or if anyone but the president in the Presidential Residence. The kids in the streets thought we were the police or the Galbadia soldiers that were running around lately. We all laughed at them and then showed them the patches that were sewn into the insides of our coats. When they saw that we were from Balamb, they straightened up and answered our questions with perfect answers and never faltered with 'ums' or the 'I don't remembers.'  
  
They told us about things that were secretive to the residence, some things that we already knew, like the ladder in the back. But there was an easier way to get inside the complex, to the roof itself. One of the boys, one that seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, told us of a truck that goes in and out of the residence. In at 7:00pm and out by 9:00pm, if you don't catch it, you're screwed. Randall and I looked at one another and knew what we were doing tonight. We thanked the little brat, he weaseled 50 bucks out of us, but we got the information out of him so it wasn't all that bad. 


	6. There's a Monster Behind Those Eyes

At six o'clock that night, Randall and I left the hotel room that we shared and took off for the gate to the Presidential Residence. As the truck stopped at the gate to get let in, he and I climbed onto the roof of it and lay flat until we got inside. It stopped inside the complex, on the side of the building. He and I rolled off the top of the truck, grabbed the ladder on the side of the truck and made our way around the building to a pile of boxes and things to the edge of the roof and pulled ourselves up one top of it. Carefully walking across the top of the roof we made our way to the ladder, up that and climbed slowly up the last high-rise of the roof. Finally we were on the veranda of the Presidential Residence. Standing there, my feet resting on the very stones that my father stood on when he rescued my mother from the Sorceress; Randall looked from me to the balcony itself and proceeded to drag me into the hall of the top floor of the building.  
  
"So where are we going, genius?"  
  
"Down I suppose, how should I know, I'm not the hero."  
  
The two of us made our way through the hallway leading to the walkway we were standing on and flipped the switch on a compartment on the floor, opening the hole in the ground leading down into another room on the floor below. This room was empty for the most part, a few candles were burning in lamps, but other than that it was stark. We got through there quickly, what we were searching for was still below us.  
  
We made our way down and into another room, this one more lit than the previous room. It looked like a church in that room, all lit up with candles everywhere and an alter in the center. A man was standing in front of the alter, his back to us. In front of him was a large book from which he was reading, or was that chanting? We didn't really ask, just looked at one another, drew our weapons and confronted the man.  
  
He turned and greeted us warmly, which threw us off something serious. We stopped and looked at one another, as I watched, Randall laughed and the man's attitude changed dramatically.  
  
"You foolish boy, do you not understand what it is I am doing? I am bringing forth our savior; she will save us from this pathetic excuse for life. She is a God for us."  
  
Randall looked at the man and just screeched at the man like I have never heard anyone scream, except my father, I think.  
  
"You are as stupid as she is. Do you know how moronic it sounds to call a woman a God because she was a Sorceress? She was beaten by a bunch of teenagers, hell she was beaten by his dad!"  
  
He pointed at me when he said this and proceeded to laugh hysterically. I didn't find it all that funny and stood my ground. The man coughed uncomfortably like my father does when I've done something and then hit us. Actually, it was Randall with a burst of magic from the palm of his hand. I watched as he was propelled backward into the wall and knocked unconscious.  
  
"Randall! You bastard, you're determined to kill us all aren't you? First Timber, then Balamb and the Garden, and now you're going to finish off the last of the SeeDs."  
  
"You are a SeeD? A scrawny little punk like you and that jerk behind you are SeeDs?"  
  
He was rolling in laughter at us as a stood there just quivering in anger. There was nothing I could do, sure, I could run at him and kill him, but likely, he'd kill me in an instant. He stopped laughing and grinned at me maniacally before hitting me with an 'ice storm,' sending me across the room and into a column behind me.  
  
I awoke half-way across the room with a killer headache to see that the Sorcerer had gone back to calling the witch back. He was chanting and seemed to be in a daze. I have furious, not only had he hurt me, and rendered my friend unconscious, but he admitted to killing the SeeDs and did it with pleasure. I stood, feeling really sick as I did and took my gunblade from the place where it had fallen. Something had taken hold of me, a=I was angry and my emotions got in the way.  
  
I took the blade, pulled it back behind me and swung at the man, it connected with his neck and cleared his head right off. I was breathing hard, watching this, but it seemed that it wasn't actually me doing it. I felt like I was there watching this through someone else's eyes, there was no fear, just pure anger.  
  
There was blood everywhere, on the ground, the alter, the book, and myself. It was in my mouth but right then I didn't give a flying f*** about it. I snatched the soiled book off of its resting place and dropped it quite unceremoniously in the flames that were burning on either side of the alter. I turned around to leave, looking around to see if Randall was still there, but he had moved. Again it was something I didn't care about all that much. From in front of me somewhere, someone was clapping as though applauding the mess I had made out of that man. I growled into the darkness, the blood on my lips getting into my mouth.  
  
"Who are you, what do you want with me? You want to join the old man in his death because it can be arranged."  
  
The voice that met me was deep and calm and I knew it in an instant. It was Seifer and he was applauding my actions.  
  
"Congratulations little boy, I didn't think you had something like that in you, your father will have a field day with this when he finds out his son has a monster inside him, behind those dark eyes of yours."  
  
I was going to counter him, but there was nothing I could do about this, I had attacked the man in a fiery anger and cleared his head clean off his body. He glanced at the body behind me, the blood that had drenched my clothes and just shook his head. Ahead of me I saw Irvine with Randall in his arms, still unconscious. Something in the back of my head clicked and I looked down at the weapon in my hand, the blood that was drying on its blade and hilt, the crimson stain that was drying on my clothes. Seifer looked at me with those eyes and smirked slightly. I saw him raise his Hyperion blade and smile at me. He knocked me out with either his blade; the last thing I saw was the puddle of blood coming up at me to swallow me whole. All I knew was that it was over, and I had ended it. 


	7. End

It was a few days before I woke up again laying in the Infirmary of the Garden. I sat up quickly before realizing how bad I felt and collapsed on the bed again. Randall was beside me on another bed, he was just sleeping now, or it looked like he was anyway. I fell asleep again for what seemed like forever.  
  
When I awoke next, Randall was sitting over me. He smiled lightly at me as I sat up and looked at him, waiting for my eyesight to return to normal.  
  
"I thought you'd never wake up. I heard about your mercenary style execution of that Sorcerer, hell, half the school knows about it. You're a hero."  
  
"What happened? How did I get back?"  
  
"Seifer hit you. He went to get you out of there, saw the death hit, watched you burn the book and made his way to get you out of there. Rather than let you have a cow there, he knocked you out with the back of the blade and carried you out. Do you honestly not remember?"  
  
"I remember killing the man; I don't think that's something I'll forget for a while. Though it doesn't seem like I was the one that swung the blade, I remember doing it, but I just don't think I can do something like that."  
  
"Well, I'm supposed to escort you to the Headmaster's office; he wants to hear about everything."  
  
I didn't want to tell him, but on the way to the office I remembered every little detail, as well as the incident that led to the last time I was in his office and he had called me there. Randall and I went into the office, took a seat before the Headmaster and waited for him to inquire.  
  
He looked at us, at each of us as we sat there. For the first time we were sitting there not for something that we messed up, but something we did right. He smiled at us broadly and stood.  
  
"Before I begin the inquiry, there are a few people I want to come in."  
  
The doors behind us opened and the first to come in were my parents and Randall's. My mother grabbed me and refused to let go, she was crying and swearing that if I ever did that again she'd kill me herself. My father actually smiled at me but said nothing. It was the first time I heard Fujin say more than one word. After the parents came my friends, Zach and Amanda with Selphie and Irvine behind them, Sean and Annia with their mother, who was bandaged up, and the most important person, Kris and her father.  
  
When I saw her I stood and she ran right into my arms, taking my mouth hostage with the passionate kiss. She stopped and just held me there, until we heard laughter behind us and turned to see Seifer just cracking up. We turned and the Headmaster asked us, meaning Randall and I, to take a seat. We did as we were asked and watched as his smile faded into a serious face, almost like stone.  
  
"Boys, you did something that was not expected of you, though I do not see why you shouldn't have, look at who your parents are. My only problem is that you did it under the name of SeeD but neither of you are SeeD members. If anything, you are rouge children."  
  
He must have seen our expressions drop because he smiled again.  
  
"However, you accomplished what no one else could do; just two boys did what all others failed. I have to commend you on your bravery, your strength and your courage under fire. To you, I present the SeeD badge signifying that you are members of the elite group. Sadly, you are the only SeeD members except for the handful you see behind you."  
  
His monologue went on for a while, he asked what we did, and how we knew where to go and what I had to do to kill the Sorcerer. Every question was asked and we eventually returned to the earlier acknowledgment of the SeeD elite forces.  
  
"Well now boys, I have one last question to ask you. There are few students left and even fewer instructors. I have been informed of your teaching skills by the two young ones beside you, they say you are training them with weapons' skills. My question for you is if you will be willing to instruct the new students until we have more agents under our belt?"  
  
Randall and I looked at one another and smirked slightly. Technically, we weren't supposed to be training those two because of their ages, it was against every rule imaginable. Before I could reply, Annia came and sat on my lap. She and her twin brother, Sean, are only 10 so I didn't mind too much. She looked at me and got this really serious look on her face.  
  
"Please say yes, both of you. My mother can't instruct for a long time and I want to get back to fighting with you and Randall. Its fun and I'm learning how to use something that should be a few more years ahead of me."  
  
We both looked at her and shook our heads, I pushed my head against hers and she giggled lightly.  
  
"Headmaster, I would be honored to take the instruction position of these students."  
  
Randall agreed with me and that was it. Annia jumped down and stood by her mother. As I stood and began to leave the room, Kris flung her arms around my neck and kissed me again.  
  
*****************  
  
It's been 6 years now since the boys, Randall and Johnathan, proved themselves to be more than just rebellious teens. They are still instructors but are aloud to be SeeD members if the need should arise. The boys are now at the SeeD ball waiting for two of their favorite students. Sean and Annia Trepe, Instructor Quistis Trepe's twins have passed their field exam and are preparing for the big dance.  
  
Johnathan was standing in his SeeD uniform watching the dance floor for his student to come out, she had promised him a dance when she passed the test, as was his fiancée. Kris agreed to marry him last week; he was so pleased at the end of that night.  
  
Of course, Johnathan isn't the only one that has luck with women. Randall is dating a young girl that survived the SeeD exam just barely. Her name is Sari, the two have been getting very close lately. Also getting a love life are the most unlikely couple, Zachery Dintch and Amanda Kinneas. The Garden is back up and running, there is nothing that can seem to stop them now and it is quite obvious that both boys have lost their rebellious streak that caused them to act so badly in their past.  
  
*The dance*  
  
As I watched the dance floor, Annia and Kris walked out onto the floor and smiled at me. Kris in that baby blue dress that she picked out especially for this night and Annia wearing my mother's old dress. They both look like little angels, but of course I know better.  
  
I was promised a dance with my young student and I take it, she is much better than she seems when you first look at her, she's very light on those feet. She and her brother are now 16, and the next generation of SeeD operatives. In six short years the Garden went from rubble to an operational creature, running on full power to get life back to the way it was.  
  
There are things about the past that I cannot forget for the life of me. The monster that was unleashed when my family and friends were attacked has had no use in this new life of mine and I intend to keep it that way. I do not want those that I love or care for to see what a monster I can be.  
  
Annia kissed me on the cheek as she walked away and took Randall; I seriously think she has a crush on him. He's too old for her, as am I. We turned 22 last month; it was nice to be an adult. Kris and I are to be wed in another few months and I'm looking forward to it. We all have a life now and it's amazing to know that we have something to live for because Randall and I put our young lives on the line to rescue what we had when, at the time, it was not all that interesting. Our life is now worth living and there is no way that that demon creature, Ultimicia can ruin it for us, she and her Time Compressed world has been destroyed. Her book that she had confined herself into in order to save what little life she had when my father was through with her. I burned her book in the flames that were burning from my anger and she is done for. If she has survived, she is dead, by whatever means she has lived for this long, she will die at my hands or at my child's. 


End file.
